{"slug": "startpage", "name": "Startpage", "category": "search", "category_name": "Search", "description": "", "recommenders": 2, "commenters": 6, "warners": 2, "score": 0.426, "rising": 0.67, "first": "2026-01-29", "latest": "2026-08-03", "why": "The good old google search without AI bloat but with privacy via https://www.startpage.com. Highly recommended!", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 2, "neutral": 2, "compare": 0, "warn": 2}, "spark": [0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0], "listed": false, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "The good old google search without AI bloat but with privacy via https://www.startpage.com. Highly recommended!", "icon": false, "domain": "startpage.com", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://startpage.com", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Startpage"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 786568704, "item_id": 49160544, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49160544", "by": "elseleigh", "date": "2026-08-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been using https://startpage.com for more than ten years and can't fault it.", "excerpt": "I've been using https://startpage.com for more than ten years and can't fault it.", "context": "", "use_case": "web search", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are the viable alternatives to DuckDuckGo?"}, {"id": 748917824, "item_id": 46807364, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46807364", "by": "fpauser", "date": "2026-01-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The good old google search without AI bloat but with privacy via https://www.startpage.com. Highly recommended!", "excerpt": "One more reason not to use chrome. I don't want this AI bloat. And for sure I don't want to redirect my personal website content through googles privacy sucking data pipelines. What I just discovered: The good old google search without AI bloat but with privacy via https://www.startpage.com. Highly recommended!", "context": "", "use_case": "private web search", "switched_from": "", "story": "Putting Gemini to Work in Chrome"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 786573136, "item_id": 49160821, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49160821", "by": "attendant3446", "date": "2026-08-03", "stance": "warn", "quote": "StartPage doesn't only block VPN access, but also \"regular\" connections.", "excerpt": "StartPage doesn't only block VPN access, but also \"regular\" connections. And what's worse, it doesn't ask to solve some captcha, but blocks you completely and only shows the form where you can say why you think they are wrong.", "context": "", "use_case": "web search", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are the viable alternatives to DuckDuckGo?"}, {"id": 786501345, "item_id": 49156334, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49156334", "by": "traceroute66", "date": "2026-08-03", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Startpage started making themselves impossible to use when they started aggressively blocking access via VPNs", "excerpt": "Ecosia and Qwant have just started collaborating on EUSP (European Search Perspective)[1] This could easily yield very interesting (i.e. \"not just another bing proxy\") results once it starts gaining traction. I use DuckDuckGo at the moment, only because Startpage started making themselves impossible to use when they started aggressively blocking access via VPNs. As other people have already said,see `noai.duckduckgo.", "context": "", "use_case": "web search", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are the viable alternatives to DuckDuckGo?"}]}], "who": [{"by": "darthcloud", "context": "Canadian avoiding US services", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47488924", "date": "2026-03-23"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["web search", "private web search"], "compared": [{"slug": "duckduckgo", "name": "DuckDuckGo", "co": 4, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "google-search", "name": "Google Search", "co": 1, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "brave", "name": "Brave", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "ecosia", "name": "Ecosia", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "qwant", "name": "Qwant", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49155492", "title": "Ask HN: What are the viable alternatives to DuckDuckGo?", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48210263", "title": "Apparently Google hates us now", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47487436", "title": "Migrating to the EU", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46805557", "title": "Putting Gemini to Work in Chrome", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"warn": 2, "recommend": 1}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 786573136, "item_id": 49160821, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49160821", "by": "attendant3446", "date": "2026-08-03", "stance": "warn", "quote": "StartPage doesn't only block VPN access, but also \"regular\" connections.", "excerpt": "StartPage doesn't only block VPN access, but also \"regular\" connections. And what's worse, it doesn't ask to solve some captcha, but blocks you completely and only shows the form where you can say why you think they are wrong.", "context": "", "use_case": "web search", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are the viable alternatives to DuckDuckGo?"}, {"id": 786568704, "item_id": 49160544, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49160544", "by": "elseleigh", "date": "2026-08-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been using https://startpage.com for more than ten years and can't fault it.", "excerpt": "I've been using https://startpage.com for more than ten years and can't fault it.", "context": "", "use_case": "web search", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are the viable alternatives to DuckDuckGo?"}, {"id": 786501345, "item_id": 49156334, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49156334", "by": "traceroute66", "date": "2026-08-03", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Startpage started making themselves impossible to use when they started aggressively blocking access via VPNs", "excerpt": "Ecosia and Qwant have just started collaborating on EUSP (European Search Perspective)[1] This could easily yield very interesting (i.e. \"not just another bing proxy\") results once it starts gaining traction. I use DuckDuckGo at the moment, only because Startpage started making themselves impossible to use when they started aggressively blocking access via VPNs. As other people have already said,see `noai.duckduckgo.", "context": "", "use_case": "web search", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are the viable alternatives to DuckDuckGo?"}, {"id": 771432882, "item_id": 48214555, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48214555", "by": "Cider9986", "date": "2026-05-20", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I've also tried Startpage and I like it better than DDG, but less than Brave.", "excerpt": "I find DuckDuckGo's search results to be terrible. I use Brave search and I find it to be the best. I've also tried Startpage and I like it better than DDG, but less than Brave. DDG often has scam sites for example when you search for FMHY, https://fmhy.net comes up on all other search engines, but fmhy [.] click comes up on DDG. Same with \"anna's archive\" returning the fake site annas-archive [.]io.", "context": "", "use_case": "web search", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apparently Google hates us now"}, {"id": 759822787, "item_id": 47488924, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47488924", "by": "darthcloud", "date": "2026-03-23", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "It\u2019s not as good as Google, but whatever.", "excerpt": "As a Canadian, I\u2019ve been thinking since last year about migrating to non-US services and applications. My main goal is simply to avoid giving money or data directly to US corporations. I have no illusions, these non-US services probably still benefit US companies in some ways. They\u2019re rare, but I\u2019ve consciously decided to stay away from some Canadian alternatives. The main customers of most Canadian tech companies ar", "context": "Canadian avoiding US services", "use_case": "web search", "switched_from": "Google Search", "story": "Migrating to the EU"}, {"id": 748917824, "item_id": 46807364, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46807364", "by": "fpauser", "date": "2026-01-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The good old google search without AI bloat but with privacy via https://www.startpage.com. Highly recommended!", "excerpt": "One more reason not to use chrome. I don't want this AI bloat. And for sure I don't want to redirect my personal website content through googles privacy sucking data pipelines. What I just discovered: The good old google search without AI bloat but with privacy via https://www.startpage.com. Highly recommended!", "context": "", "use_case": "private web search", "switched_from": "", "story": "Putting Gemini to Work in Chrome"}]}